PHOENIX (AP) \u2014 A simmering battle over the future of President\u00a0Donald Trump’s\u00a0political movement exploded on one of the right’s biggest stages Thursday, as prominent conservative influencers used Turning Point USA’s annual youth conference to attack each other and their competing visions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The feuding threatened to eclipse efforts to memorialize Charlie Kirk, the organization’s charismatic founder who was assassinated in September, even as participants insisted they were honoring the legacy of a unifying figure within the Republican Party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
First up was Ben Shapiro, who described Tucker Carlson and others as grifters and charlatans, guilty of misleading their audiences with falsehoods and conspiracy theories. Shapiro sharply criticized Carlson, a former Fox News host, for interviewing outspoken antisemite Nick Fuentes on his podcast, calling it \u201can act of moral imbecility.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Barely an hour later, Carlson took the same stage and mocked Shapiro’s attempt to \u201cdeplatform and denounce\u201d people who disagree with him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI watched it,\u201d he said. \u201cI laughed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The raw bitterness on the opening night of the four-day conference reflected deep divisions over the meaning of \u201cAmerica First\u201d and next steps for the \u201cMake America Great Again\u201d movement defined more by the force of Trump\u2019s personality than loyalty to a particular ideological project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It could also foreshadow more schisms within an increasingly fractious Republican Party, something that Erika Kirk, Charlie Kirk’s widow and Turning Point’s new leader, warned about in her opening remarks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since the assassination, she said, \u201cwe\u2019ve seen fractures, we\u2019ve seen bridges being burned that shouldn\u2019t be burnt.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old charged with shooting and killing Kirk while he spoke at Utah Valley University in September,\u00a0appeared in court\u00a0last week. Robinson has not entered a plea. Authorities say he told his romantic partner that he killed Kirk because he \u201chad enough of his hatred.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The last time<\/a> Turning Point held its AmericaFest conference, weeks after Trump\u2019s comeback victory, the mood was ebullient as Republicans prepared for a new era of total control in Washington. The organization is known for highly produced events that feel more like rock concerts or megachurch services than political rallies, complete with pyrotechnics and floor-shaking bass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now the party faces challenging midterm elections, with Trump constitutionally prohibited from running again and his more ideologically motivated acolytes positioning themselves for after he leaves office. Meanwhile, conservatives have been roiled by\u00a0conflicts over antisemitism in its ranks, which Trump has\u00a0declined to mediate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shapiro said too many of his fellow conservatives are failing their audiences by winking at conspiratorial claims and claiming they’re \u201cjust asking questions.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n He also continued his criticism of Carlson for his friendly interview with Fuentes, whose followers, known as \u201cgroypers,\u201d see themselves as working to preserve a white, Christian identity in America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shapiro said Charlie Kirk \u201cknew that Nick Fuentes is an evil troll, and that building him up is an act of moral imbecility, and that is precisely what Tucker Carlson did.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In response, Carlson said Shapiro’s position would be antithetical to Kirk, who was killed while debating students on a college campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTo hear calls for deplatforming and denouncing people at a Charlie Kirk event, I\u2019m like, what?” Carlson said. \u201cThis is hilarious.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Carlson denied being antisemitic, saying it is immoral to hate people for how they were born. He then downplayed the problem of anti-Jewish hate by claiming it’s less pervasive than bias against white men.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat is racism that is precisely as bad as antisemitism, but it is much more widespread and has been so far much more damaging,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Carlson dismissed the idea of a civil war in the Trump coalition as \u201ctotally fake,\u201d saying a narrative of tension is ginned up by people who hope to prevent Vice President JD Vance from becoming Republicans’ next leader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n All the turmoil, he said, is about \u201cwho gets the machinery when the president exits the scene.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Turning Point has also faced turmoil over conspiracy theories spread by Candace Owens, a former employee who hosts a top-rated podcast. Owens has alleged without evidence that Israeli spies were involved in Kirk\u2019s death and that he was betrayed by people close to him. Authorities say Robinson\u00a0acted alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Asked about Owens and others spreading conspiracy theories during a CBS News town hall, Erika Kirk responded with one word: \u201cStop.\u201d She said Owens is making money off her family\u2019s tragedy, adding that conspiracy peddlers risk tainting the jury pool and allowing her husband\u2019s killer to get away with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last weekend, with the Turning Point conference looming, Kirk and Owens agreed to a temporary d\u00e9tente until a private meeting. It didn\u2019t last long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After the meeting Monday, Owens said on her show that she and Kirk spoke for four-and-a-half hours but she still doubted that Robinson acted alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Owens also responded to criticism from Shapiro, who is Jewish, by doubling down on her claim that Israel was involved in Kirk\u2019s assassination.<\/p>\n\n\n\nErika Kirk confronts conspiracies<\/h4>\n\n\n\n